The present invention relates to apparatuses for the conveying, lifting and sorting of articles. Advantageously, the apparatuses can be used in a system for the handling of articles.
A first of the apparatuses according to the present invention is an article-moving conveyor belt apparatus that is designed to move along an underlying plate or the like, and where the conveyor belt consists of a flexible material, for example, rubber or plastic, and the use of an apparatus of this kind.
When conveying, for example, short round articles, where the length of the article is less than the width of the conveyor belt, there is often a tendency for such articles to lie across the belt and to roll. One of the objects of the present invention therefore is to avoid this problem, and also at the same time to ensure that the present apparatus should be capable of facilitating the conveyance of large articles such as articles whose diameter is considerably larger than the width of the conveyor belt, for example, 1.5xc3x97 the width of the conveyor belt, and also rectangular articles.
According to the invention, the first apparatus is characterised in that the plate or the like has a central, longitudinal ridge portion, whereby the conveyor belt obtains a cross-section in the form of a shallow, inverted V, so that the belt has its highest point along the centre thereof, and with a gradual descent from the ridge portion towards the edge of the belt, and that along the outer edge of the belt there is provided a vertical wall portion, at least along parts of the length of the belt.
Additional embodiments of the first apparatus are apparent from the following description and also from attached, related patent claims.
The use of a conveyor-belt related apparatus of this kind has the result that a substantial part of each article conveyed lies on one side or the other of the highest point of the conveyor belt. The central location of the said ridge portion means that the sorting of articles on the conveyor belt, either to one side or the other side thereof, is made possible in a simple manner, and completely independent of whether the article is lying essentially on one side or the other of the highest, longitudinal part of the conveyor belt.
A second of the apparatuses according to the present invention is an apparatus for lifting articles, as for instance PET bottles, from an in-feed point to a discharge point located above the in-feed point, by means of a continuous row of article-supporting members.
In connection with vertical conveyance of beverage packaging, as for instance bottles or cans, where it is not only difficult to transport the packaging vertically downwards, but in addition also ensure a lifting of such beverage packaging, for example, PET bottles, there has long been a need to find a simple solution that is reliable as well.
A lifting device of this kind will be especially useful where there is a need not only for sorting along a horizontal conveying line on one level, but also sorting on levels located thereabove.
According to the invention, the second apparatus is characterised in that there is provided a first and a second conveyor belt or chain that are driven synchronously via driving guides, for example, driving wheels or drive pulleys, and moved over guides at the end of the belt or chain paths, that the belts or chains have a first vertical portion and a second portion that forms an angle with the horizontal, and that the belts or chains at the point of the transition between the said first and second portions are passed over redirecting mechanisms, that a plurality of article-carrying baskets spaced apart along the length of the belts or chains are fixedly secured to a respective part thereof, and that the baskets having passed the said redirecting mechanisms are designed to be passed along an inclined slide plate towards the discharge opening, wherein the baskets on passing the redirecting mechanisms are designed to be tipped into a position so that the basket-carried article is thus removed from the basket and is pushed by the basket along the slide plate towards the discharge opening.
Additional embodiments of the second apparatus are apparent from the following description and from the attached, related patent claims.
A third of the apparatuses according to the present invention is an apparatus for sorting articles that are conveyed on a conveyor belt, where the apparatus includes at least one actuator-controlled channel-formed gate pivotable about a vertical axis at an end thereof, said gate arranged to be able to guide an article sideways relative to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt by means of a rotational movement across the conveyor belt, and which in a neutral position is designed to allow the article to move past unaffected by the gate, and where the actuation of the gate is controlled on the basis of a signal indicating sorting direction sent from an article-recognition station.
A number of devices of the type mentioned above are previously known, where arms move in across the conveyor belt to move an article away from the conveyor belt in a particular direction. However, sideways sorting to both sides at one and the same point along the path of the conveyor belt is beset by major problems, especially when the conveyor belt moves continuously. One of the major tasks to be performed by the present application is to ensure a rapid sorting of articles that flow regularly out of the article-recognition station.
According to the invention, the third apparatus is characterised in that the gate has two side walls separated by a distance approximately equal to the width of the conveyor belt, and where the side walls are connected to one another at the top via at least one connecting piece; that the actuator is placed at a level above the gate and is connected via its vertical shaft to the connecting piece at the downstream end of the gate; and that the actuator is designed, based on said signal, to either hold the gate in a neutral position so that articles can pass unobstructed through the channel with its walls parallel to the direction of transport, or turn the gate to one side or the other of the conveyor belt, so that the upstream end of the gate lies essentially beyond a longitudinal edge of the conveyor belt, and so that an article to be removed from the conveyor belt through said sideways guidance is movable along an outside face of one of the channel walls having its upstream end closest to said longitudinal edge.
Further embodiments of the third apparatus are apparent from the following description and the attached, related patent claims.